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Galgus faction review- Technocratic Combine
Partially because more fanfaction discussion could help polish ideas, partially because I like feedback myself, and partially because I just feel like it I might start reviewing units in fanfactions with my opinion on them- if you don't mind. Feel free to comment and make your own reviews if you wish. I'll start with the Technocratic Combine, and fill out the review one section at a time. Infantry: Lab Rat- I like it, an ambushing scout. However, I hope you realize that it will get eaten by War Bears, Guard Dogs, and Attack Dogs unless it ambushes them- making it harder for the Combine to scout with them against competition. On the flipside, it might be more useful against Infantry attacks than normal scouts- but unless it is very cheap it will have trouble competing with the War Bear. I think that they should be detectable somehow, but I can agree with them being harder to detect- perhaps the enemy should have to invest in groups of detectors to find them? Personnel- Not bad, basically sounds like an Imperial Warrior with how they charge. I guess one difference is that they don't necessarily die when de-garrisoning, but probably kill Infantry slower, but could hit buildings more effectively. Black Guard- It seems almost too powerful as both anti-armor Infantry and deploy-able defense. Perhaps they are considerably weaker than normal when un-deployed but stronger when deployed? Perhaps they cost more? I'm not sure what would balance them, but I feel like they need more of a downside. Field Technician- Interesting, albeit this will make transports very important for the Combine. Wouldn't scattered bases only work with a highly mobile army? I may have more on this when I look at other parts of the Combine army. My R.U.N. faction can make hidden unit producing buildings/ large capacity bolt-holes and has strong force deployment which helps it hold the extra ground- I'm not sure what the Combine has to help scattered bases become viable. Death Raptor- So a Rocket Angel with less anti-vehicle damage that can basically instant kill a vehicle/ ship? That sounds pretty overpowered to me- perhaps more information would help. Genetik- By cleave do you mean melee? These sound (rightly) un-cost-effective against infantry despite their reputation. Their ability might help them infiltrate, though- which is good. Bomblet Mortar- So basically the Mortar Infantry but with an immobilizing secondary instead of the spotter flare? Seems kind of overpowered, especially against Infantry- I think a slow would be more suitable. Does this unit indicate a rushing theme of the Combine? Jezzail Sniper- Sounds like basically a Marksman with more health and no stealth. Considering how devastating the Marksman can be in rushes, I'm not sure the extra health is the best idea- and Snipers should still be able to one-shot them. Ornithopter- Sounds like it could either be useless or massively overpowered- I guess it is a cheap, frail unit that basically weapon jams ground units when on the ground and air units in the air. Is the point of this unit to help against small groups of units? What is the range on the flarelight? Genieve- Flying Commando- cool. One-shot, possibly ranged secondary- not cool. I think this commando could use a re-design on the secondary: perhaps making her into something of an uber Rocketeer would work. Civilian Vehicles: Dust Collector- Strange, unique passive. I think it could be overpowered against Infantry given that Ore Collectors can crush infantry, but I like it from an escape standpoint. Scalpel Scout Moped- I guess this unit combos with silk shooting units to kill Infantry unfortunate enough to be immobilized by silk, and scouts. Its balance almost entirely depends on how easy the silk effect is to apply. Cyclobird- This unit confuses me- does it have some kind of hover/ rocket jump that hurts things near it? I don't quite understand its role or function. Spyder Web-Spinner- Ah, so this is the big silk using unit. Seems fair depending on how fast it can apply silk- remember that the Terror Drone's long ranged Stasis Ray is a powerful ability and a big reason that the Soviets dominate the ground- immobilization like this could be tough to balance. Personally I think a slow would be more suitable, at least on vehicles. Pulling itself towards vehicles doesn't seem very useful, unless its silk shot is short-ranged. Polarity Barrier Van- Quite an interesting unit, but its balance depends partially on how easy it is to kill. Assuming the polarity doesn't block attacks and vehicles can shoot the van from outside it, how much health does the van have? I think this unit would be pretty OP if you couldn't focus fire kill it, but it should have a decent amount of health given its hazardous role. Mobile Mini-Lab- Sounds like a mostly non-combat healer unit, I like it. Thundergun Track- Is this thing basically a tank that transports 10 infantry? I feel like I don't understand it. Frogger Stackmobile- Its a fun concept, but what is the point of this unit? Run past defenses with small, fast vehicles and form into a big one? I assume there are limits to the stacking, and I assume it has an anti-vehicle role. 'Military Vehicles:' Variable GIT- The health and speed on this thing would need to be carefully balanced to keep it from being overpowered. This also makes me think that Black Guards should have un-deployed dps when in a garrison/ fire port transport. Malice Tankette- Seems like a decent concept, but as-is it would always close with enemies and try to flank while shifting into its short-ranged mode. Can it crush infantry, and is it faster than other MBTs? Scrambler Gravitron- I am guessing that the secondary fire damage on this is minute enough to hardly be noticeable- it seems a good concept. (And surprisingly somewhat shares roles with one of my units.) Isopoda- An artillery that could potentially skirmish its intended target is already game-breaking (if it can) but also having an immobilizing secondary seems just cheap. Perhaps it would be better if it set a silk trap. Horror Tank- This strikes me as a less than cost-effective tank that can transform into an under-performing anti-vehicle artillery. It could potentially be a very strong unit, so would need careful balancing. Lockjaw Tank Hunter- Do you mean that this thing throws enemy vehicles behind it? It seems like a decent counter to vehicles charging artillery, but inaccurate friendly artillery could be the bane of this thing. Atrocity AAA- Sounds like a helicopter/ heavy anti-air specialist- I don't see why the combine need it exactly, but so long as it moves at around tank speed it seems balanced. Vile Converter- Well thats an outright creepy unit for ya. Looking at it from a function-only standpoint, it seems to be some strange kind of support unit for a commander who likes to use Infantry. I'm not sure it has a solid role. Crustacean Mobile Artillery- My first impression is, of course, What?! I kind of like it, but it seems overpowered that its secondary gets rid of one of its main weaknesses. Aircraft: Vulture- Is this supposed to be anti-vehicle? Is its secondary supposed to be countered by shooting it off? Bird-Of-Prey- I am guessing that this would run out of ammo quickly, and it would need an extra downside for its combat secondary. Corvid ACE Bomber- Careful on the anti-infantry hate- they are already under-used. I don't like how countering them with anti-air infantry is counter-intuitive, and think that an immobilizing/ slowing silk bomb would be more balanced. Pterodactyl Armored Glider- Interesting, but its mine payload would need to be small and its reload time long. Scabbard Gun Drone- Sounds like a more balanced Claymoore, depending on how the kill device works. Majestic Flying Carrier- ...weird. The Confederates would like to have a word with the Combine. Anyway, balance-wise I guess it is somewhat akin to the Soviet Barrage Balloon. Liche Support Copter- Kind of odd, this kind of buff/ debuff unit is boring to me, but popular with the Dev. team. UFO- Being that hard to kill and revealing stealth may or may not be a problem. I like it from a scout role though- you seem to have given the Combine a scouting theme. Navy Quadrant Sailboat- Interesting, sounds like an early tier combat ship that can harass enemy installments on the land from the sea. I like it. Astrolabe AA Cutter- Sounds good, but I still think that spider silk may need to be toned down to a slow instead of an immobilization effect for balance- albeit in this case submarines should be able to avoid immobilization. Sextant Battlesub- So long as this thing is reasonably kill-able or at least avoidable when trying to latch, I am fine with it. Would other submarines be a counter to it in its sub form? Celeste Transport- Thats not a very powerful effect for this thing to have, but it could help if you manage to distract the enemy from his base well. The Combine seems to have a decent amount of units that would work well in an amphibious assault. Antikythera Floating Sphere- I don't quite understand this unit; it seems to be an amphibious artillery of unknown health or damage with an ability to drive away enemies that get close of unknown range. How much range and power on the secondary? How much health? How much speed? How much artillery range? How much artillery damage? I need to have a better idea on those things to understand this unit. Anglerfish Research Sub- Buff units like this bore me most of the time, with the infantry that do it as an exception- but the concept seems popular with the dev, team. Its secondary seems to encourage units to either kill it from range, run, or charge when it attempts to use it- its balance kind of depends on its health and speed. Alhazred Madness Cruiser- Is its torpedo a blindfire one like the Akula's? It seems like it would be over-strong if it were not. I compare this to the Shogun Battleship and the Akula, and think that it would be good for its torpedo to function mechanically like the Akula's, but likely with a bit more power. Blessed Poison Oil Tanker- Sounds like a unit made primarily to create a wall of fire to protect bombardment ships and secondly to fight directly. It could be overpowered or balanced depending on a variety of stats. VIP Unit I don't like the idea of VIP units being like epic units- I think that they should be able to support your army, but be something that is vulnerable if caught alone that your enemies plan to assassinate. This thing sounds like a Harbinger on steroids. (Albeit thinking of a VIP unit has led me to think of a loose concept for one.) Defenses: Spyder Wall- I like the aesthetic. Sling Cyclo- A multi-role base defense like this could be useful for a scattered base faction. ACE AA Emplacement- Again, added function means that it should under-perform somewhat. I think the artillery strike should not be very devastating or hard to dodge- especially considering silk. I think this should have standard turret health and not Flak Turret style health. Spyder Wall Gate- I like the aesthetic. Immobilizer Turret- Interesting, I like indirect towers like this. Vortex Gate Hub- That seems pretty overpowered to me, especially with Engineers and Infiltrators. Why do the Combine need a tool like this? ACE Waste Disposal- So...a Demo Truck style tower? Seems more like a bomb ammo generator than anything. Juggernaut Siege Gun- A moving artillery turret? I think it should be much frailer when not in ground and take some time to settle down. Electric Transmission Station- This sounds almost exactly like the Syndicate secondary Superweapon. Dark Energy Expander- So it is gradual as its thing? I don't think that downside is enough to justify significantly higher damage, but perhaps a radius increase. Build & Tier System: I like the scattered bases intent of this build system, but it doesn't seem to encourage it well. I don't have a suggestion for helping to change that at the moment, but I will try to think of one. Perhaps tying their tier to the number of non-barracks non-refinery unit producing structures they have would help- but I haven't thought it through fully. The ACE Generator's power bonus should be very minor, perhaps about 10-15 extra power. Overall theme I like the artillery, spread bases, and support theme of this faction, but in retrospect think that it lacks the direct warfare weakness it is claimed to have. Perhaps its combat vehicles are generally more thin-skinned than others? I would say that the Combine is a pretty good fanfaction with just a few things that I think could be improved on. Doing this has helped me learn about and understand the Technocratic Combine, so I will probably be doing reviews for other factions.